Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1887-06-10
MAKING CHOCOLATE.
THE PROCESS or MANUFACTURING
THE COCOA CAKES OF COMMERCE.
Picking Out Bad Kernels and l. effective
Notwithstanding and Mixing the Cocoa
and the Sugar-The Last Working.
Finished Tablets.

The first operation is the picking over.
The cocoa bean comes In bags. 1t is
shaken 10 get rid Of any foreign bodies
which may have gotten mixed in at the
time OF gathering-pebbles, bits Of wood
and leaves.
At the same time bad kernels and de-
fective berries are spied ont. The sieve
which Is used in this operation is n most
wonderful affair, the berries and sticks
and stones falling through the holes which
they fit and thus being quite separated.
The sorted cocoa is then broken up in
sort Of mill, each separate chopper" hold
ing about 90 Kilograms. The operation,
which lasts from thrce-Quarters OF an
hour to an hour, is very delicate. Upon
its success depends that Of a whole period
OF bon-bon making
Then comes the winnowing and bruis-
ing Of the berry in machine similar in
use rs well rs appearance TO an old FASH
Toned -four mill with its grindstOnes 1t
bruised the bean between two fluted cylin
ders, while a ventilator blows out the
fragments of skin or shell, and tho grain
OF the cocoa, by reason Of its weight, falls
below. On leaving the machine the cocoa
goes to new group OF "pickers over"
who subject each fragment Of berry to a
ilSl UIlu ClOSc examination.
COCOA AND SUGAR.
The cocoa is now at The point Of be-
coming paste Ten years ago this change
was accomplished by hand work alone.
The cocoa and suGar-the only ingredients
of hcalthful, pure chocolatc-were
pounded in a mortar by the aid Of pcstle,
then spread upon stone table, gently
warmed from underneath. The workman
finished the bruisinC and the mixing by
rolling the mass with a rolling pin until
the blending was complete.
To-day the bruising and the mixing OF
the cocoa and the sugar is done mechanic
nlly in n series Of granite basins These
basins, hung upon vertical axle, turn
slowly while the cocoa IS again being
ground and stirred by two small grind
stones hung above.
The sort of butter which the cocoa berry
contains and the correct temperature
maintained beneath the granite basins
soon brings about the commingling Of the
cocoa and the sugar into n homogeneous
paste. The grinders complete the trans
formation by floating the paste between
two diamond shaped cylinders, also of
granite. This mechanism can be so regu-
lated rs 10 make the mixture fine or coarse
In quality as may be desired
After leaving the grinders The chocolate
is placed in drying house, from which it
comes for a new going over.
THE LAST WORKING.
This last working Of the paste brings it
into the human hand, which beats it thor
oughly, striking it on the granite table,
thereby giving it its incompatible fine
ness This working has also for an object
the bringing Of all parts of the paste TO
the same temperature. Once thoroughly
warmed it is then run through pipe into
n sort OF cone, where, by means Of
screw, the last air bubbles are squeezed
out, and ii comes forth looking like
black pudding. There remains nothing
now but the very last appearance Of all
that OF the tablet Upon the table where
the molds are placed the workman spreads
his paste out evenly, pressing il down
smoothly in all directions by wide sweeps
OF his arm. For this operation no machine
can replace the man. 1t Is necessary to
have motions rs well calculated and rs va
rious as those Of the human hand TO
arrive at the desired result, which is to
give TO the paste Vat brilliancy and
''shine" which makes The finished tablets
so tempting TO the eye.
The cakes are nodded while cooling.
They are cooled down below on the
tables set up in long subterranean gal
lery made expressly for the purpose-a
veritable tunnel, in fact Beneath the
tables passes n stream Of cool air. At the
end Of half an hour the chocolate is cool,
consequently shrurk little and drawn
away from the mold, Of which each is, by
the way, the very image.
There remains nothing but TO make the
toilet OF the cake that il NAV aDDear TO
the world.-F. b. Merrill in New York
Graphic.
A InnrnnlIsf,s NerNnmsness.